Here are just a few shots of my Mother's Day Breakfast in Bed. I look like death, I know, but wanted to share my 'sweet kids' story...Djibril is in Benin and early Sunday morning I heard Keagan whisper to Mohamed, "Oh, it's Mother's Day, we have to give Mama breakfast in bed!" I thought, "Oh how sweet, but I wish he would wait an hour or two!" I was so tired; stayed up until after 2:00 preparing the lesson for youth group...you can tell by the bags under my eyes! But, what a nice surprise that they remembered....they came in and [View Full Entry]

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I was just in Niger for 10 days conducting a workshop for Imams and Pastors to equip them to discuss HIV and AIDS in their congregations and communities. It went very well - thanks for asking! All of the translations were exhausting, but other than that it was a great experience. It is nice to be in a forum where we can discuss our similarities and not focus on our differences! The group was very motivated and all but one participant turned in a follow up plan of action so that was great! I did have a chance to get with [View Full Entry]

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One of the things I love about West Africa...It is not very clear due to the fact that both of us were in moving vehicles, but I just get a kick out of the ladies dressed to the max zooming about on motos and scooters...no helmet, purse slung over the arm, bags and shopping stuffed onto the front. This one was a 'minimum baggage' you notice; she doesn't have three kids and a goat on the moto with her! The record on this trip was a dad, mom and three kids on one motorcycle but unfortunately I wasn't fast enough with [View Full Entry]

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Wow, It has been so long since I posted a blog. Not that nothing has been happening...I guess too much and time is short. But, in the Uwargida tradition, I wanted to at least share my Africa Moments with you and these are quick to post. Africa Moment #11...advertisements in Dakar....Is it just me or do these kids NOT look like they are having fun??? [View Full Entry]

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Africa Moment # 12 - Fine Dining in Dakar - Self explanatory! :) [View Full Entry]

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Well, it has taken me a long, long time to get these photos up. I posted the text long ago, but just realized today that the photos didn't make it up. I guess I had a crash during the upload and lost my motivation and then just forgot about it! Senegal Independence Day celebration was a very nice parade through town. We got there minutes before it started, which was nice; we didn't have to wait hours in the heat for any excitement. Keagan and Kaijah had a really hard time with all the pushing...it didn't take long before men with [View Full Entry]

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Well, here is the other half of the family! http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1400122725 . Notice how Djibril got the hips and boobs! That messed with his African manliness! I could almost hear the testosterone levels drop in the office when we watched it! I promised him that the heads are placed in a completely random manner but he doesn't believe me! [View Full Entry]

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Paste this link to see our Christmas Greeting. http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1367859855 Too bad they only support four faces...no good Catholics or Mormons are going to be able to use that site for Christmas cards! You see, I could only get my kids on there but not enough space for Djibo or I or brothers-in-law! In any case, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all! We have intentions of taking a family photo this Saturday so if it happens, I'll post an update as soon as I can. It will be a lot of self-timer and run to the camera type action; where [View Full Entry]

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Can't even believe it! A few shots of my big 4-0! We had a family celebration on the 14th after I realized I'd forgotten and had to cancel plans to go out; Djibo organized a nice family shin-dig. On Saturday, the 17 we had some friends over; Kaijah was in heaven - so many little girls in the house at the same time! [View Full Entry]

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Africa Moment #10 For some reason Dakar doesn't show up as an option on the travel blog site any more. Anyway, this is a continuation from Africa Moment #9 which was about the Women's Retreat at Hotel Ngor Diarama. The retreat, by the way, was amazing so don't let the yicky hotel room story taint your impression of my spiritual enlightenment! ANYWAY, what happened was that Friday night at dinner, the hotel announced to us that they would be cutting off the electricity at 8 p.m.! So, we could all go to the desk and get ONE candle (so, you pretty [View Full Entry]

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